AIR PICTURE — CHAGRIN FALLS, OH — 2026-07-08
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Unusually quiet day over the falls — traffic running 67% below the 7-day average, with a handful of anomalous contacts demanding a second look.
NOTABLE TRAFFIC
DAL624 / UAL880 / TWY22 — Multiple heavies transiting eastbound at cruise altitude (35,000–41,000 ft), speeds 515–549 kts. Standard fare. Nothing to see here, move along.
BAW120 [405BFC] — British-registered contact, 37,000 ft, heading 066°. Welcome to northeastern Ohio airspace, Your Majesty.
TAP240 [4952A3] — Netherlands-registered, 39,000 ft, heading due east. Making good time.
FDX5046 — FedEx running eastbound at 35,025 ft, 538 kts. The package will arrive on time.
N979CC / N740U / N862AW — Three low-and-slow contacts (2,400–5,600 ft, 100–168 kts) operating in close proximity west of Chagrin Falls. Local traffic doing local things.
HBAL821 [AC0A9A] — Loitering at 65,500 ft, 10 knots, heading 233°. The callsign prefix "HBAL" is consistent with a high-altitude balloon. It is not in a hurry. It is, frankly, barely moving.
ANOMALIES
Unnamed contacts at altitude: No fewer than 11 Mode S transponders are squawking without broadcasting a flight ID. They span 22,000–41,000 ft. All US-registered hex codes. Unusual volume; worth noting.
[C04AF3] and [C008C6] — Canadian-registered, no callsign, cruising at 35,050 ft and 27,750 ft respectively. Polite enough to have transponders on; less forthcoming about who they are.
[9F80DC] and [86D244] — ICAO hex codes falling outside any known national allocation range. Two contacts, no callsigns, no explanation. The anomaly log is aware. So are we.
JZA735 [C00B7E] — Jazz Aviation (Canada), 11,800 ft, heading westbound. Properly identified; flagged only for foreign registration. No concerns.
PATTERN NOTES
Today's 227 contacts represent a significant departure from the 7-day average of 694. The shortfall is not explained by any single gap — regulars are missing across all carriers, including UAL, DAL, SWA, RPA, AAL, EDV, and JBU. More than 60 expected flights did not appear. No systemic cause is identifiable from available data.
SKW5409 failed to appear in four consecutive observation windows. It has been logged accordingly and may be sulking.
END OF DAILY AIR PICTURE